Ice Queen
by Aespren
Summary: Usually, on Halloween, Annie Leonhart locks herself in the basement with a good book and a pair of headphones so that she can avoid the noise of any trick-or-treaters that come to the door. But after Armin offers to come over and help with the shelling out, she may just have to change her tradition. Modern AU. Fluff.


_A day late, I know, but I don't usually get into the spirit for holidays until they are actually here._

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><p>A singular bell chimed, announcing to Annie that the time was now six o'clock. Soon there would be knocking at the door, alerting her to the start of this year's Halloween. Since she was the only person in her townhouse that had chosen to not go to a party, she was left with the job of dishing out candy.<p>

It hadn't been her original intention. She had planned to spend her night in the basement, reading; her ears covered with headphones so that she didn't have to feel guilty whenever she didn't respond to a knock at the door. However, things had happened, and she now found herself sitting by the door, waiting for one visitor in particular to show up.

It was a welcome change of plans. Halloween was the one night of the year that she didn't actually mind people knocking on her door. Little kids dressed up as witches and cartoon characters, in colourful costumes with fake blood and fake teeth that they had to remove every time they talked; it was pretty enjoyable just to see all of them.

There was a knock at the door. Annie looked out the peephole, seeing the dark costume of her first visitor. Seems the kids had started coming before her guest did.

"Hi Annie, sorry I'm late."

...Or not.

"Armin, what are you wearing?"

Annie gave her friend (could she call him that?) a once over, taking in the monochrome suit and makeup. Was he trying to be a 1940s television character?

"I'm dressed up as Jack Skellington."

Oh, she knew that movie. Though only because it was playing in the backgrounds of almost every Halloween _and _Christmas party she had gone to during high school. She gave Armin another glance. His outfit was good, but the blond hair was more than a little bit out of place. That, and his height, made him look a lot more like the offspring of the character than the lanky skeleton she remembered seeing on the screen.

"You do know that the kids are supposed to be the ones wearing the costumes, right?"

"They are. Me wearing one doesn't stop them," Armin defended. She wondered if he knew she had meant the question sarcastically.

Armin finally came inside, setting a costume store bag against the wall. She could see that there was clothing inside of it. She hoped that wasn't spare clothes in there. Did he think she was going to ask him to change or something? It was true she had said that she didn't see the point in dressing up when he had asked her, but that didn't mean that she was against him doing it. She pushed the insecure thought out of her mind. It was just clothes for him to change into later, probably.

"I brought some candy too, wasn't sure how much you had or how popular it is here."

"Your guess is just as good as mine, I've never shelled out here," she replied, "Or ever, actually."

"Well don't worry, I have this covered!"

Armin definitely lived up to his word. He did much more than just hand out the candy. He hid it in his sleeves and made it appear and disappear on a whim, making the children guess which hand it was in before revealing if they were right or wrong (regardless of which, he'd then put both hands behind his back momentarily and then open them up to reveal that they now both had candy). Or he'd make it appear from behind their ear, which caused the littlest ones to stare up at him with their mouth wide open. He even juggled a few times, but it seemed that wasn't his specialty (On his third time dropping all the candy on the floor he had caused a little boy to start crying, and he hadn't attempted it again since).

Annie had no idea that he was so invested in magic tricks, and was honestly getting a bit jealous with how much attention the kids were giving him.

A _rap rap rap_ sounded at the door, and Armin opened it, bowing to the little girl in front of him. "Well hello, what a lovely visitor we have tonight! Are you enjoying this holiday? It's one of many that we celebrate here!"

The little girl was staring up at him with wide eyes. She barely looked older than five, and when she opened her mouth her words whistled through the gap in her front teeth where she had obviously lost a tooth recently. "I like your costume mister!"

Annie wondered if the girl even knew who Armin was dressed as, but she supposed it didn't matter. He was definitely getting a lot of praise.

The little girl left with a big smile, hopping down the steps while holding her parents hands. Armin closed the door.

"You know," Annie started, "You're making me wish I wore a costume tonight too."

Armin smiled, his features made even bigger by the makeup that surrounded his lips. "I _knew_ you'd want to! So I bought you a costume!"

She wanted to ask '_Are you serious?'_ but there was no point, as he had already reached into the bag and was pulling out the contents. A blue dress came out, the excessive amount of sparkles catching her attention instantly.

"...Elsa? The same costume as almost every girl that's come to our door?"

"Yes, well, you said that people used to call you an Ice Queen."

"Not as a compliment."

"I know, but everyone was mean to Elsa too, and now just look outside; she's the most beloved girl of all."

Beloved? _Seriously?_ She hoped that was part of his Jack Skellington act; she didn't remember the character well enough to know.

She stared at the costume a moment longer before taking it out of his hands. Even though she had little desire to look like every other woman outside tonight, there was no way she could say no after _that._ "Alright, I'll go put it on."

"Okay, I'll be here!" Armin reached once more into his bag, pulling out a hairbrush. "Then when you get back, I'll help you braid your hair."

Annie rolled her eyes as she went to the washroom, hoping she had gotten away fast enough that he hadn't noticed her growing blush.

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><p><em>Thanks for reading this far, any feedback is greatly appreciated!<em>


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